Amitabha Triad
1400s
- Medium
- bronze with traces of gilding
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 40.6 x 16.5 x 54.6 cm (16 x 6 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- Korea, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910)
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Korean Art
- Credit line
- Worcester R. Warner Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This bronze triad depicts Amitabha, the Buddha of Western Paradise, at the center, flanked by two bodhisattvas: Ksitigarbha on his left and Avalokiteśvara on his right. Ksitigarbha is believed to rescue those tormented beings from purgatory, while Avalokiteśvara offers relief to those suffering in the mortal realm.
An exceptionally rare statue from the 1400s, this piece entered the CMA’s collection in 1918. It was discovered in Korea in 1916 by Langdon Warner (1881–1955), who was serving as the CMA’s field agent. In a letter dated December 4, 1916, Warner expressed not only his excitement upon finding the triad in a local pawn shop but also his satisfaction at purchasing it at a significantly reduced price.
